Ian Bain’s new tunes work through emotional tumult with purpose and poise
Softside’s 2017 EP Lower Hands opens with a gloomy thought: “It’s been a bad year,” sighs frontman Ian Bain over a web of dark guitars.
“I was very down and upset that summer,” said Bain. “That year was a real rough one, and I was in a very tumultuous place. I sat down with an acoustic guitar and pounded out that chord progression and just started singing the hook.”
That song, “Over,” was the first Bain wrote for the project. Initially a bedroom recording project, Softside since blossomed into a well-regarded local live act, with Bain on lead guitar backed by a group of his best friends.Now, another year has passed and Bain is scheduled to drop a new full-length tape, Luxury Lounge, at a house-show this Friday. This year has been tumultuous too — Bain went through a breakup, for one thing — but the new record feels lighter, tinged with hope and fresh purpose (in addition to plenty of the single-not-ready-to-mingle blues).
The new tape expands the Softside sound to include country twang and lowkey acoustic pop, a product of Bain’s growing confidence in his own vision: “I’m trying more and more to allow what’s coming naturally to me to be legitimate — not shut it down right away — and then try to develop it if I think it’s any good,” said Bain.
This stress on development includes a new passion for quality lyrics: “My goal,” said Bain, “is to not allow any insecurity to get in the way of me expressing myself in a very honest way, lyrically.”
Highlights like “Uxbridge” and “A Lot Like Her” indicate Bain’s new focus as a songwriter and have already begun to find a place in Bain’s live show. “Maybe next year,” sings Bain on “Over.” This new record should give Bain and his band plenty to explore throughout the next year.
Photo by Will Wellington/The Ontarion